Incidence of complications in emergency tracheostomy in adult patients

Objective: to determine the frequency of various complications of emergency tracheostomy in adult patients visiting tertiary care facility. material and methods: this descriptive study was carried out in the department of otolaryngology,nishtar hospital,multan from april 2008 to october 2008. this study included 60 patients in whom emergency tracheostomy was performed. results: the complications of emergency tracheostomy were observed among 23 (38.35%) patients. the complications like primary hemorrhage,apnea,cardiac arrest,surgical emphysema,stomal infection,disfiguring scar and tracheal stenosis were seen among 6(10%),1(1.67%),1(1.67%),1(1.67%),9 (15%),4(6.67%) and 1(1.67%) patients,respectively. conclusions: the incidence of complications of tracheostomy can be high even in tertiary care hospital. infection is the most common followed by haemorrhage.